Of Magic and Chakra
by Zyura Kailaidrianina
Summary: <html><head></head>After a mission gone wrong, Sakura finds herself in Balbadd with a strange mark on her cheek. Determined to return home, she travels to Sindria, where she ends up catching interest of kings and magicians. Sakura must work together with these people, but how can she when she refuses to trust them with her identity or even be herself? SakuSin AliMor SakuSasu and more. Rated T for now</html>
1. Chapter 1

Run. That's all she can think about. Don't stop. Don't turn back. Not for anything. Don't think about them. Just run. Faster. Faster. She pushed more chakra into her feet and continued on.

The trees flew past her in a blur as she ran, faster and faster. She could hear the swift sound of footfalls behind her, twenty or so in all. Everything had gone so wrong, everything had turned out wrong.

A simple B-rank mission, an in and out, recover and return. All this for a scroll, a scroll so old that no one can remember what secrets it contains. She could remember it perfectly, how Lady Tsunade had called her into the Hokage's office with a mission. A simple B-rank retrieval, a squad consisting of her, Kiba and Akamaru, and Tenten. Simple, that's what it should have been. But it all went wrong.

Something, she suspected a paper bomb, exploded somewhere on her left. The force of the blow knocked her into a tree. She swore under her breath as she continued on, her ribs screaming. She knew she had at least three broken ribs, if not more, but she didn't have any extra chakra to heal it. Everything she had was going into escaping.

The village had been easy enough to sneak into, getting past the guards was child's play. But there was no mob boss, no black scroll with a white dragon on the side. Just a net and a shit ton of explosives. Kiba had been injured. Tenten had deflected most of the first blast, but one got her on the leg. Kiba and Akamaru had to retreat with her under the cover of the smoke. She had convinced them that she would be okay, that she would lay a fake trail, that she would meet them back at the village.

She couldn't allow herself to be caught, she wouldn't allow it. There were people waiting for her back in the village, people who needed her. She dodged a kunai and ran left. She knew a moment too late that that was a mistake. They were waiting for her; it was an ambush.

She fought like a wildcat, barely allowing herself time to breathe. She needed to get back to the village; she needed to rendezvous with Kiba and Tenten. A sword bit into her bicep, but she barely noticed its stinging cut. She was too focused.

Punching and kicking, dodging and running, that all she could do. These ninja weren't run of the mill. They fought and moved like professionals, and had to be at least jonin level. She fought with all of her might, but she felt her movements become slow, her arms heavy, her vision blurred. She dropped to her knees, fighting to stand up again. She couldn't.

_Damn it! I can't… die here… I…can..'t….here….. _Sakura Haruno blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura's eyes shot open as she began coughing and hacking, her throat dry and gritty from all the sand.

_Wait, sand?_

Sakura sat bolt upright and winced. Her head ached and her muscles screamed at the sudden movement. Her arms and legs were littered with scratches and small cuts, all of which had scabbed over, and bruises on her wrists looked to her to be at least four days old. She coughed some more and winced as a sharp pain shot across her face. Reaching up, she felt more cuts, all caked with sand, a few of them bleeding slightly, all across her cheeks and forehead. The wound on her left cheek was the most frightening of all. A symbol had been carved into her skin. Tracing her fingers over it, she felt the dirt and grit caked into the wound, giving the definite outline of two squares overlapping each other.

She traced the wound once more, and then slowly traced the wound one last time. Focusing her chakra, she sent a small wave of healing chakra across her skin. Gently probing deeper, she discovered that she had dozens of fractures and a handful of broken bones, mostly her ribs. She grit her teeth and forced the chakra deep into her bones, wincing slightly as she forced the healing to begin.

As her bones knitted themselves back together, she looked around. It was nighttime, probably close to midnight, and all around her was a desert.

_What the..? Where…? How…? When…?_ The thoughts tumbled around in her head. She was in a forest not long ago, and one that was nowhere near a desert, any desert.

She studied her surroundings. The sand was harsh and coarse, rough on her skin, and was such a brilliant orange-yellow even in the dark of the night, the likes of which she had never seen before. In the far distance, she could see what seemed to be a tower, climbing high into the sky almost endlessly. Definitely not one of the deserts in the Land of Wind, or even those that surround Suna. In fact, she had never seen this desert before. She had definitely never seen that tower before.

Looking up, she studied the stars, searching desperately for the constellation that would point her north, or tell her anything about where she was. It wasn't there. In fact, none of the common constellations were visible to her. Shaking her head, Sakura got to her feet, grimacing slightly as the last of her bones healed themselves. She fought to keep herself from panicking, from losing her common sense. She couldn't afford to lose her wits now. If only she could contact someone.

She mentally slapped herself. Her radio! Of course! Checking her neck, Sakura sighed in relief when she felt the small metal radio. Flipping it on, she heard only static. Groaning inwardly, she tried the other stations; all of them had static too.

"Meaning we are too far away from each other to get a proper signal," Sakura muttered as she began to walk. "I guess I'm on my own." She checked her pack to see what she still had; medicine, weapons, scrolls, and a change of clothes. "Well, I could be worse off." Sighing, she continued on, towards the only thing she could see, the tower.

She had been walking for two days straight and the tower didn't seem that much closer than when she had started. Sakura flopped down in the sand, the cold sand soothing her sunburned skin nicely. She was tired, she was thirsty, and above all, she was worried. She didn't know where she was, she had no way to contact her team or even Kohona. She groaned and rolled to her side. To make matters worse, she hadn't had a shower in almost a week and it was starting to bug her.

Sakura stared at the tower. It actually had gotten closer, and by her estimation she still had about two weeks before she reached it, even moving at top speed. Usually wouldn't be a problem, except that she was almost out of water. Groaning, Sakura rolled back on her back, staring up at the stars, searching for the North Star, even though she knew she wouldn't find it. Closing her eyes, she began to drift off to sleep.

_'Tomorrow'_ she thought, sleep washing over her, _'I'll double my speed tomorrow.'_

A cracking noise somewhere to her right caused her to sit bolt upright, kunai in one hand. She knelt low in the sand, her cloak somewhat blending into the sand around her. A soft orange glow in the dark night informed her that whoever was there had lit a fire. She suppressed a shiver. Despite being burned by the sun during the day, Sakura was always cold at night.

She crept forward, peeking her head over the top of the sand dune. It was a caravan, traders most likely. From the looks of their clothes, they had been traveling for a few weeks at the most. Crates and barrels in the wagons told Sakura that they were traveling with food and wine, probably of the fruit variety, if the faint, sweet smell coming from them was any indication. The people of the caravan ranged from grandmothers huddled in group a group by the fire, to children and babies who were fast asleep, curled up in one of the wagons or at their parents' sides.

They all had dark hair and slightly tanned skin, their eyes a deep brown. Even sitting, Sakura could see that they were somewhat short, with soft lines to their faces and their hair was kept no longer than their shoulders.

Sakura slowly formed the signs and felt her chakra ripple through her body as her hair turned chocolate brown, her face became rounder and softer, her eyes almost a perfect match to her hair. Her clothes matched what the travelers were wearing, a long brown dress with long flowing sleeves and loose fitting pants. It tied at the waist with a cream sash and a matching scarf adorned her neck. On her feet she had worn, but comfortable shoes, and her cloak turned to a light brown cloth. She tied her hair back into a low ponytail and then pulled out a few strands, making it look windswept, and, as a final touch, she rubbed some sand into it.

She was about to stagger into camp when she noticed something. Every young woman in the camp was accompanied by someone, be it a husband, brother, parent or grandparent. Even the female children were all in one wagon that was watched over by the oldest people in the group.

Sakura crouched down again. She knew it would look suspicious if she stumbled into camp without an escort and even if she told them that her escort had died in the desert, these people, if they believed her and didn't perceive her to be a threat, might assign her a bodyguard and she would never be able to slip away without drawing attention to herself, which is something she definitely would have to avoid. But what to do, _'Think, Sakura, think…'_

The though struck her like a bolt of lightning. Quickly weaving the signs, there was a puff of smoke, and Sakura smiled wryly. _'I guess learning the kage bunshin wasn't such a bad idea after all, despite how much of my chakra it uses."_

"Go back past that dune. We don't want to seem as if we have been this close all along. Also, lay a set of tracks from me. They might get suspicious if there aren't any; the wind died down not too long ago." Her clone nodded and started to walk backwards back over the dune crest. Smiling, Sakura waited until her clone was back over the dune before she closed her eyes.

_'I am Ana.'_ She thought, sinking into the mindset of her cover. _'I am lost, I am scared, I am harmless.'_ Placing a small amount of sand in her mouth, Sakura stumbled almost drunkenly over the crest of the dune, and into the fire's light.

"H…lp…please…" She rasped, allowing her limbs to quiver from the exhaustion that she usually ignored. "wa...ter... ple…s…" She commanded her limbs to go weak, her voice to fade away, and her eyes to roll up into her head as she fainted.

As her body hit the ground, the camp erupted into chaos.


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura forced her limbs to remain limp as she felt hands lift her up and set her in one of the wagons. She kept her breathing light, slowing down her heart rate, but her ears were pricked and alert, making out even the faintest conversation.

"Who is she?"

"Is she alone?"

"What is she doing way out here?"

"Forget that, the poor thing is half dead!"

"Somebody fetch the healer!"

"And some water too, the girl looks like she hasn't drunk anything in days!"

"How did she survive the desert?"

"This child is quite lucky that we were here, otherwise she would have died."

"But we never saw anyone during the day, what if her being here is not a coincidence?"

"She could be faking it! She could be a spy, or even a killer!" That remark came from what sounded to be a young man, and was quickly followed by a sharp smack and a muffled yelp.

"She's a robber!?"

"Someone help us!"

"Enough." This voice was reedy and light, but held an air of authority that commanded obedience. "Thief, robber or not, she needs our help. Get her some water, but keep a close eye on her. Ankh, Manju, take a couple of men and check to see where she came from. Go armed, she might not be alone." Sakura could hear names being yelled out and footsteps becoming fainter as people moved away.

"Girl, girl, wake up!" Someone was shaking her shoulder. Sakura forced her body to remain limp, allowing the shaking to continue for a few more second before she twitched her fingers and groaned.

"She's waking up!"

Sakura fluttered her eyelids and opened her eyes, forcing her eyes to remain unfocused. "Water…" she rasped, "…please…"

A water jug was placed in front of her lips. Sakura slurped desperately, and started when a hand was placed on her head.

"Slow down girl." It was the reedy elder. "Drink slowly, and then tell us why you are here."

Sakura took slow slurps of the water and spit some out, clearing her mouth of the sand. She coughed and sat up slowly, breathing heavily and eyes barely open. Sitting in front of her was an old man, his head shaved and he had a long white beard. He looked to be over 80 years old and she could tell that he was once a warrior and very strong, judging by the scars and muscles still evident despite his old age. Sakura breathed out slowly, and answered, as the scared, fragile Ana.

"Where… am I?" She looked around. "Who… are… you? Grandmother? Where is she?! Where is grandmother!? Where is she?!" Sakura lurched forward, almost falling out of the wagon before she was caught by a very big man with more scars than she could easily count. "Grandmother!? GRANDMOTHER!?" Sakura started to weakly struggle, making her voice higher and more hysterical with each word. "Please, you have to find her! She's all I have left! Please! Grandmother! GRANDMOTHER! Please don't die! Please please!"

"She's going into shock!"

"Someone calm her down! She'll hurt herself if this continues!" Moments later a hand appeared under her nose, the strong scent of crushed herbs filling her nose. Sakura couldn't quite make out what plant it was; she had never encountered an herb that smelled like this before. It smelled almost like mint but there was an earthy quality to it that made it different from regular mint. The scent was causing her heartbeat to slow, her muscles to relax, and her eyelids to droop.

"Calm down, girl, calm down! We have sent people back the way you came. If your grandmother is close by, we'll find her."

Sakura sent a jolt of healing chakra to her head, causing her mind to remain alert and vigilant as the strange herbs started to take effect. She slumped forward, her body limp. "Please… sa…ve he…r…" Sakura closed her eyes and allowed sleep to creep up on her. She felt the man holding her place her gently back in the wagon and someone covered her with a blanket. She surrendered to the lure of the herbs, though her brain remained wide awake, recording everything that was said.

The Monril Caravan huddled around the fire, their eyes often returning to the form of the strange girl who had wandered into their campsite.

"She must have gotten lost in the desert, or was running from someone."

"The poor girl. How horrible."

"Hopefully they find her grandmother soon, the dear girl seemed so upset." There were murmurs of agreement, mostly from the women.

"I still think that she is faking it. I refuse to believe that a girl of marrying age was just wandering the desert with no escort." That was the young man who had accused her of being a spy earlier.

"Sora, she just said that she had a grandmother, and no girl can fake that level of pain and hysteria. The sunburns were definitely not faked." The girl sitting next to Sora glared at him.

"Sora is right." This was the voice of an old woman. "We cannot take this girl at her word without more proof of who she is. However, Mya is also correct; no one can fake this level of hysteria and pain. The sunburns on her body suggest that she has been walking the desert for days. She was severely dehydrated and fatigued. Also, her body and mind are distressed."

"How can you tell, healer?" Elder Maan asked the woman next to him, his reedy voice carried easily over the murmurs of the group

"The ruhk in her body depict extreme mental and physical strain; her magoi is almost erratic in its flow. Even as she is sleeping, the magoi in her body does not rest." The old healer fingered her cane.

"Healer, what do you mean it does not rest?" Elder Maan asked.

The woman sighed. "When a person is awake, their magoi flows steadily throughout the body. When a person sleeps, the flow slows almost to the point of stopping. This girl's magoi is still moving quickly inside her head, though she is asleep."

"Then that just means that she is faking it, right!? That she is actually still awake and just pretended to pass out!?" Sora yelled. Another smack and yelp was heard.

"No, boy." The healer sounded exasperated, lowering her cane as Sora rubbed his thigh where she had smacked him. "The rest of the magoi in her body is almost dormant, meaning that she is no longer conscious. However, the magoi around her head is still flowing like normal because her body still perceives that she is in danger. It is a rare occurrence, but not impossible. If we had not sedated that girl, she would be able to jump up and run even when asleep at the first sign of danger. She also could have her herself or one of us in an attempt to escape from whatever situation she perceives as dangerous."

"So, she is telling the truth? She isn't a spy?" asked Mya.

"I do not know that." The healer replied. "All I know is that she is not faking her injuries nor her sleep right now."

"She wasn't lying about her grandmother either." Manju's voice floated out of the darkness. The entire camp turned to stare as Manju, Ankh and four other men walked into the firelight. Two of the men were carrying a limp figure. As they came closer to the fire, the caravan saw that it was a woman.

She looked like the strange girl that had wandered into their camp, though this old wan had at about 50 years on the girl. Her hair was a silvery-white, strands peeking out from under her head scarf. She wore a brown dress that had been bleached almost white by the sun that was the same style as her granddaughter's, and a torn black cloak hung from her shoulders. Black rags adorned her feet, the cloth looking to be of the same material as her cloak. Her skin was quite sunburned and blistered in some places, though the headscarf had protected most of her face. Around her neck was a plain gold choker, the ends soldered together to make it impossible to take off. In her ears were heavy gold hoops, and a gold hoop was in her nose. For a woman who looked about seventy, she was very fit, with strong muscles and a lean physique.

The men placed the old man next to her granddaughter and stepped away as the healer came forward. Placing balm on their blisters and burns, the healer took a look at both women. There was no doubt that they were related. In fact, if the old woman was forty or fifty years younger, then she was positive that they would look the same.

The healer turned back to the group. "These women are indeed related, and their injuries show me that they were caught unawares in the desert. They need our help."

Elder Maan nodded from his place near the fire. "Then we shall welcome them with open arms and help them in any way we can." The elder rose slowly and made his way to another wagon. "We will deal with it again when they awaken."

As the camp prepared for the night, the healer woman sat down in the wagon next to the two strangers. The old woman's breathing was shallow but steady; the girl's light but strong. Seeing the grandmother shiver, the healer placed another blanket on top of her. This movement cause her to stir and awaken.

"Greetings." Said the healer.

"The same to you." The healer was surprised to hear how strong the woman's voice actually was.

"How are you feeling?"

"Burning and cold at the same time." The woman shifted slightly, flinched and sighed. "How bad is it?"

The healer nodded, understanding. "Nothing that cannot be reversed. You have a few bad sunburns that may leave some scars and you are very...um... sun-dried, but as long as you drink the water and herb teas and spend less time in the direct sunlight, you should recover quickly."

"And my Ana?" It took the healer a moment to realize that 'Ana' was the woman's granddaughter.

"The same." The old woman let out a shaky breath that the healer didn't realize that she was holding. "You both will be just fine."

"Thank you. You are very kind, despite us being here, Mistress…?"

"Ki, Healer Ki. And your name?"

"Yayaba." The woman, Yayaba's, eyes began to droop and her voice began to trail off. "Thank… you… help… Ana…tow…er…" she was asleep.

Healer Ki tucked the blanket around the two women and rose, making her way past the two men guarding them and back to her own wagon. Turning back one last time, she focused her magoi into her eyes and watched the women's strange magoi twist and flow inside of them. Yayaba's magoi flow was extraordinarily similar to her granddaughter's, though hers did not have any sporadic activity. Allowing her magoi to drain back to her center, Healer Ki closed the curtain over her wagon's doorway, and lay down to sleep.

_'Those two will change this world.'_ She thought as she settled under the covers. _'I'm sure of it."_


	4. Chapter 4

_Two weeks later_

A gentle tapping on her shoulder is what caused Sakura to wake up from her slumber. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a wagon, covered in some kind of salve and a blanket. She could feel the strange chakra of the caravan's people all around her, so she suspected that she had some kind of guard. She could hear the wind's movement over the desert sand, and, judging by the lack of light that filtered through small holes in the wagon's cover, it was the middle of the night.

Hearing no movement near her, Sakura sat up and listened intently. Nothing. She turned and came face to face with Yayaba.

Sakura drew closer to her 'grandmother' and inhaled slowly, collecting her thoughts. "What did you tell them?" She asked quietly, in case someone was listening in. She began to quickly sift through everything that her tired mind had recorded in the two weeks her body was comatose.

"Nothing much," Sakura's transformed clone replied just as softly, placing a blanket over them as they sat together. "I stated our names and that we came far from the west from a small village that no longer exists. They seemed to believe me. I told them that we are heading to that place with the tower in hopes to start over. They are heading to the same place."

Sakura nodded slowing, still pouring over her mental notes from the last two weeks. "I heard them talking about that place. It's called… Qishan and it is run by a young man named… Jamil. From what I can recall, he is not a caring man. We should try to stay off of his radar." Her clone nodded in agreement. "How did we get to the desert?"

"I told them we returned to a village of ashes one morning and that we have no idea who did it. We were traveling east, but we encountered slavers on the way. Apparently slavers are a problem here. Also…" Her clone went on and Sakura drank it all in, watching the building blocks of Ana and Yayaba's lives grow taller and stronger before her.

It was less than a few hours later when the sun began to rise, but for Sakura it had felt like years. She now was Ana, a 20 year old woman with no family other than her grandmother Yayaba. She is an amateur healer and a great cook who dislikes fighting and violence and loves to listen to her grandmother tell stories. She is very gentle, not easily scared, and she loves to talk to people, especially children.

Yayaba blossomed into a no-nonsense, stern, strong woman who has bouts of memory loss and confusion. She never takes no as an answer and is quick to discipline those who act like children, even they are children. She cares a lot about her granddaughter and loves to drink. She hates excuses.

Sakura smiled inwardly as she heard the hustle and bustle of the Monril Caravan as they awoke from their slumber. She was a kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf; deception was in her blood.

_Three months later_

_In Qishan_

Alibaba stared in horror and disbelief when a pair of giant blue arms shot out of the end of Aladdin's flute. He was even more stunned when those arms not only smacked Budel and his guards, but also turned pink and retreated back inside the flue after being pointed at the slave girl.

"Still as shy as ever, huh Ugo?" Aladdin laughed. The girl just stared at him, as did every other person watching as this blue haired boy nonchalantly broke the law.

Yells and whistles brought Alibaba back to his senses. He grabbed Aladdin's arm and ran through the crowd as the police began to converge on their location. Out of the corner of his eye, Alibaba saw the red-haired slave girl disappear into the crowd. _'Good,' _he thought_, 'maybe she'll get away without punishment.'_ Alibaba ran even faster, determined to lose the police.

In all of the confusion, neither Alibaba nor Aladdin nor even the red-haired slave girl noticed the young woman who watched them intently, a barrel of wine in her arms. Watching the retreating forms of the two boys until they had disappeared into the crowd, Ana turned on her heel and made her way back towards the caravan's wine and fruit stand. Setting the barrel down in the shade behind the counter, Ana turned to Manju, a question in her eyes.

"What?" Manju asked, his voice its usual gruffness.

"I just saw something very strange. There were these two boys in the next market plaza over, and the crowd was stunned when one of them freed a slave."

"Of course they were" Manju replied, exasperated. "Freeing a slave that is not yours is stealing. They could at best lose an arm, at worst their livelihood or even their lives."

"But when the police came, the same boy called out the arms of a blue giant and beat up Budel the wine-seller, as well as his guards." At this, Manju sat bolt upright, his eyes wide.

"What?!" Ana asked, startled.

"You saw a dungeon capturer?"

"A what?! You mean that kid had survived the Dungeon Amon?!"

Manju shook his head. "No, from what I know of dungeons, they disappear once conquered. That boy must have conquered a different dungeon. They pop up all over the world."

Ana looked up at him, her brown eyes alight with curiosity. "What's in a dungeon?"

"More riches than you can imagine, as well as magic that is unlike anything else in this world." Ana's eyes lit up and opened her mouth to bombard him with more questions when he cut her off. "Ana, you couldn't even survive one day alone in the desert. No matter how much magic fascinates you, going into the dungeon is suicide. In Amon alone, thousands have lost their lives. Don't be stupid enough to try and enter it. Leave the dungeons to the extraordinary people and settle down with an extra-ordinary husband who can keep you out of trouble. Yayaba's not going to be around forever."

"I'm still kicking, boy, and I can come back there and prove it if you like." Yayaba stood in the street, a fruit basket in her arms."

Ana tuned out Manju's retort and her grandmother's smart remarks, thinking back to the two strange boys she had seen. The tall one had said he wanted to go dungeon diving, and something told her that he and his little friend would succeed somehow. That same feeling also told her that the dungeon standing outside of town wouldn't be there much longer.

Brushing past her grandmother, who was currently threatening Manju with something that Ana positively thought is anatomically impossible, she made her way back to the wagons to unload more wine.

'_Dungeons are supposed to have unrivaled magical power.'_ She thought, grabbing another barrel of wine from Manju's wife, '_If I can get my hands on that power I may be able to go home. I better keep an eye on those boys; I have a feeling that they will be indispensable allies and terrible enemies.'_ She smiled to herself as she made her way back to the caravan's stall. _'Where they go, I'll go. After all,'_ she smirked inwardly, _'with all that power, they are bound to need a healer.'_

"What are you smiling about?" Yayaba asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Nothing, grandmother, just thinking about what we should do next."


	5. Chapter 5

Sakura watched as the caravan carrying Budel, Aladdin, and Alibaba rolled past her window, heading out of the city, along with barrels of wine and a cart full of slaves. Her heart went out to the children that she saw in the cart, but she couldn't do anything. Right now, maintaining her cover and keeping out of the limelight was the best decision she could make. Helping those people will not do anything but bring her trouble, no matter how much her heart ached and her consciousness called her a coward; she ignored them. One thing that living through war and surviving as a medic had taught her was that you can't save everyone; you have to pick your battles and accept the losses.

Still, Sakura was glad to see that Budel still had a large red mark on his chest from when Aladdin had his djinn attack him. That fat old man deserved to be hit by someone, treating others as dirt not only regularly, but also to prove a point.

She sat back as the last of the wagons rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, sighing slightly. She was slightly… annoyed.

_'__Disappointing; that's what they were. Those two were completely disappointing. Here I thought they would surprise me by refusing Budel's job after all that ruckus that they made at the market yesterday, but no, here they are, transporting the same girl they tried to save yesterday along with dozens of others. I thought they would continue to stand up for the weak, like Naruto would have.'_

She felt a pang of sadness; it had been almost 5 months since she had arrived in this place and she still had no idea how to get home. From what she was able to gather, no one here had heard of the Hidden Leaf or any other of the Hidden villages, and no one had heard of shinobi.

Even worse than that, she hadn't seen Naruto or Ino or even _him_ in almost a year; she had been pulling late ones at the hospital usually had back to back missions, just like everyone else. The Fourth Shinobi War had taken a great toll on the entire shinobi nation, not just her own village.

Sakura felt her throat tighten slightly and pushed the memories out of her mind, knowing that she would cry if she continued to think about home. _'Don't think about them, you will only cloud your judgment. Focus on your next move.'_

With this thought in mind, Sakura sat up and closed her window's curtains, blocking out the sunshine. Moving to the door, she closed it and quickly placed a genjutsu on the room. She smiled slightly to herself. She had perfected this genjutsu over the last few months, making it look like Ana and her grandmother were fast asleep and wished to not be disturbed. It came in handy when Sakura was low on chakra and had to dismiss her shadow clone to regain her chakra more quickly. She did so now, and felt the rush as her chakra reserves began to slowly and steadily increase once again. She even removed her henge, knowing that she could quickly reapply it if need be.

Crouching low, she began to form hand signs, making sure each one was perfect, concentrating her chakra, molding it perfectly. _"Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram." _Biting her thumb, she placed her hand on the ground, releasing her chakra. _'Summoning Jutsu!'_

There was a little puff of smoke, then… nothing. No Katsuyu, not even a small part of her. Sakura groaned in frustration. _'Not even a single trail of slime! What is going on?! The chakra is perfect, the hand signs correct, and I've done this before! Why is it not working now?!'_

She sat on the bed next the window, head in her hands. She focused on her breathing as she thought through the process once again. The chakra was perfect, the hand signs were perfect, and the concentration of power was perfect, which means that this rukh stuff here didn't operate the same way as chakra. More basic things such as genjutsu, taijutsu, and even most types of ninjutsu would work here, but not any that require summoning anything from another dimension.

_'__Living things'_ Sakura corrected herself, rubbing her temples. _'I can still summon weapons and my scrolls and medical supplies, but not Katsuyu or any other summon. Why my weapons but not Katsuyu.' _A thought struck her. _'What if the reason that I cannot call Katsuyu is because the Shikkostu Forest is another world, one in which only summoned beings can reside? A weapon is stored in an alternate dimension with a portal sign used here in this dimension to stabilize access it. Living things are from different worlds, not dimensions. It makes sense; very few people can be summoned by another without dying. The rukh stuff in this world must be interfering with the world-to-world portals, but have very little influence on the dimensional portals since nothing that it being summoned is technically alive.'_

Satisfied with this answer, she pulled aside the curtain covering the window. The day had gone and it was now late at night. Smiling to herself, she got ready for bed, making sure that the genjutsu was securely in place and would last until the next morning when movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Looking back out the window, she saw something that made her smile widely.

_'__So they do care after all.' _

Flying towards the dungeon of Amon were two small figures, one short with a blue braid and one taller with short yellow hair, on a white piece of cloth. Sakura smiled as they approached the dungeon. They were going to do great things; she was sure of it.

Sakura watched as the boys disappeared from sight and waited, something telling her that not only they were interested in the dungeon tonight. She was right.

Less than five minutes later, Lord Jamil, part of his army, and over a hundred slaves made their way swiftly and quietly past her window, heading straight towards the tower. Sakura was surprised to see the red-headed slave girl in that party. However, some part of her wasn't surprised; she had been able to sense the girl's strength when she was in the market yesterday. That young girl was powerful, no doubt about it. She must have cost a lot of money, not an amount that is easily thrown away as a slave in the mines.

Sakura watched as they too disappeared from view. Sliding under the covers, she grinned to herself as her eyes began to droop. '_I do hope that they survive that dungeon. Something tells me that they will soon become very powerful figures here. But as my ally or as my enemy?'_

That last thought lingered in her mind as she fell asleep, kunai in hand.


	6. Chapter 6

The crowd was in an uproar; the dungeon was gone! The dungeon had been entered just the day before, but no one had expected it to be conquered! As the word traveled throughout the market, more and more people abandoned their stands at a run, joining the ever growing crowd heading towards the site where the ominous dungeon once stood. The crowd pushed and shoved each fighting to get to the edge of the newly formed hole to see who had conquered the evil tower.

Sakura sighed as people rushed past her. She knew from the rumors that only one child had made it back and it was that blond boy. However, from what she heard of his emotional state when they pulled him out of the hole ten minutes ago, he was happy, not only the kind of happy that came with obtaining a lot of money, but the kind of happiness associated with accomplishing a mission with a friend. Smiling slightly to herself, she continued down the road, heading towards her fruit stand.

Her 'grandmother' was waiting for her along with the Monril Caravan, collecting the last of their things while the people of the caravan were preparing to leave Qishan. Sakura sighed as she heard Manju and his family ask Yayaba if they really wanted to stay in Qishan. They had been nagging at her clone for hours about their decision to remain in Qishan instead of continuing with the caravan. Sakura stifled a giggle at the sight of her clone lecturing the headman about manners, and headed over to the group, smiling gently.

"Grandma Yaya, he knows your lecture by heart."

"Then he should remember it by now! After all the time I have taken to pass on my wisdom and not one of you has any decency to try and learn from it!" The old woman waved her gnarled walking stick around as she ranted, not caring that she narrowly missed hitting the people around her.

The caravan laughed good-naturedly and continued about their business, loading up the last of their wares as the youngest children ran about the wagons, excited to be traveling again.

Sakura turned to Manju and his family, who were looking at her with hope in their eyes.

"Ana, are you sure-"

"We're sure." Sakura cut him off, smiling gently. "We have intruded on the caravan long enough and grandmother does not wish to begin traveling again just yet. We'll be fine. The city seems easier to survive than the desert." This got her a chuckle from the caravan.

Manju still looked skeptical but didn't voice his protests. Gruffly, he nodded. "Well, it seems you have made up your mind." Sakura nodded. "Since we can't seem to change it, let me give you some advice; try and keep your head down. War might be on the horizon what with the Ko Empire spreading like mold. Try and stay out of trouble and keep an eye on your grandmother. The gods know that her silver tongue will bring you a load of trouble."

Sakura giggled as her clone grunted her disdain but said nothing.

"Time to head out!" Manju's son, Haril, shouted from the top of the wagon, relaying the message from the elders. The adults scrambled to put the last of their things in the wagon, scooping up the younger children and placing them in the wagon which sat Healer Ki, the old woman looking even more tired than usual.

Sakura and her clone made quick work of their goodbyes, kissing everyone on the cheeks before the wagons began to move. The children yelled their goodbyes at the tops of their lungs, arms waving frantically. The adults waved with almost the same level of enthusiasm as the wagons creaked down the road, around the corner and out of sight.

Sakura continued to wave as she felt a wave of sadness wash over her; she had truly loved living with those kind people, but she had a job to do, and she couldn't do that with over a fifty people hanging around her 24/7. Her clone clucked at her.

"Head in the game, _Ana_. We need to find a way home."

"I know that, _grandmother,_ but we lived with those people for months. The least that we could do was thank them; after all, they did take in two strangers and got nothing in return, aside from your sunny personality."

"You're the one who made me this way. If you don't like it you can only blame yourself."

Sakura groaned and rubbed her temples; arguing with yourself was plain exhausting and you never really win the argument. She heard her clone gathering up their things and went to help. There were so many questions that she had about this place that she wanted answers to and her instincts were telling her that if she stayed with the caravan, she would not get them. Her best bet would be to follow that dungeon capturer and his little friend, wherever he may be now, and see if she could find the answers that would get her back home. The energy around, their _magoi_, was strange and powerful, more so than anyone else she has seen before. Getting in good with them might bring some tricky situations in the future, but was her best bet at getting home.

Next item on the agenda; become good acquaintances with this dungeon boy and find a way to stay near him for as long as possible. Sakura grinned widely as he slipped her bag over her shoulder and turned to her clone.

"So I am guessing that we will be following that boy with the strange chakra who appeared in that giant hole where that dungeon once stood?" Sakura nodded. "And what makes you think that you can get close to him?"

"Yaya, he's a teenage boy."

"I hope you're not planning to put out. I mean, are you willing to throw yourself at a boy a little over half your age who visits escort houses and now that he is rich, he can buy all of their time?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and smacked her clone on the shoulder, hard. The wrinkled woman didn't even flinch. "I am not going to sleep with him!"

"Than what will we be doing? Hopefully not begging?"

Sakura huffed and started down the road that led to the richer part of the city.

"Let's go see if this boy, Alibaba, needs a maid."


	7. Chapter 7

Alibaba was gazing out of the window at the city when a knock startled him out of both his thoughts and his seat. Hastily picking himself off the floor, he called out "Yes?"

The door opened to reveal a pretty young woman wearing a light aqua dress and dark red leggings, both of which were embroidered with little black symbols that he had yet to learn the purpose of. Her dark brown hair was in a bun on the back of her head, and around her waist was a dark red sash. On her feet were plain black shoes and she wore no jewelry. Her arms were full of rugs and blankets, which she gently set down as she entered the room.

"Lord Alibaba-" Alibaba cut her off, embarrassed.

"You don't have to call me Lord Alibaba, Ana. As I've told you before, just Alibaba is fine."

"I'm sorry; Alibaba-san, then. Your cart is ready to depart." She smiled gently, the innocent warmth spreading over her face. "We are set to leave any time now."

"Thank you, Ana. You've really been a big help." Alibaba smiled bashfully.

"Oh, no sir, no thanks are necessary. In fact, it is I who should be thanking you. My grandmother and I would have been stuck here if it wasn't for you. I cannot thank you enough for allowing us to accompany you to Balbadd. I've never been to the sea, but grandmother says it's beautiful. She also says that the food in Balbadd is delicious! And…"

Alibaba laughed silently as the young woman went on and on about the places she wanted to see. He had been quite surprised when an old woman had approached him over a week ago, with this girl standing quietly behind her, and demanded that he give the young girl a job. He had been surprised at her forwardness and had somehow ended up offering the younger girl a job for an amount so small he often wondered if she just didn't care about money or is she was just not right in the head, for she had accepted it immediately.

But he had found that hiring her was one of the best decisions that he had ever made. Every morning she woke him up and gave him his soaps and towels and ushered him into a hot bath, where she left him to wash while she straightened up his room. When he was done bathing, she would serve him breakfast and would clean up after he was finished. She was always there when he needed something and never complained about the work. She would then spend the day waiting on him or cleaning already pristine rooms.

Around mid-afternoon, her cackling, pushy, touchy grandmother would come over for tea, tell Ana what she had heard in the markets and from travelers, and then return to whatever it was that she did during the day, though Alibaba was still unsure as to what that was exactly. Ana would then prepare dinner, turn down his bed, and retire to her own rooms, leaving him in peace to stare out of the window. He did this often, almost as if he was expecting a little blue-haired boy to fly up to him with a childish grin on his face at any moment.

"Alibaba-san? Are you listening to me?" Ana's gentle voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

Ana smiled gently. "I'm so sorry that your friend hasn't shown up yet, but I've left a message with some of the market people and the traders here and even the landlady. When he returns, someone will pass on the message that you are traveling to Balbadd."

When Alibaba's face remained somewhat blank and gloomy, she sighed and stepped closer. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around the boy, hugging him to her bosom and stroking his hair. He froze, not expecting this meek, shy woman to do something as bold as hug him. He stood there like a statue as the 20 year old brought her lips close to his ear, her voice a soothing whisper.

"Alibaba-san, it will be alright. You and your friend will see each other again, I'm sure of it. But you cannot wait for life to happen, you have to embrace it and step towards tomorrow." She gently pushed him away and held him at arm's length. "Sometimes you have to travel to find old friends. It's as my grandmother says, 'new places, old faces.'"

"New places, old faces?"

Ana nodded. "Parents always tell their children that to be found when they are lost, they must stay where they are. However, both you and your friend believe that the other one is lost and neither one of you knows where the other is. If what I have heard is true, Balbadd is one of the largest trading ports around, and people and ships from other countries tend to visit it often. If you are to find your friend, the best place to go might be to a city everyone travels to at one point or another. 'To catch a fish, you must go where the fish are; to find a friend, you must go where the people are.'" That got a small smile out of the blonde teenager.

She gave Alibaba's shoulder's one last squeeze before she released him and gathered up the rugs she had laid aside. "If we are to leave on time, I should get these rugs packed away as soon as possible so that we can leave whenever you are ready." She made her way to the door, sparing only a moment to flash him another gentle smile before disappearing down the stairs.

Alibaba stared after her, a small smile on his face. _'Yeah,'_ he thought, as he gathered his things and made his way down the stairs, _'I'm lucky to have her.'_

Sunrise had ended by the time that Alibaba, Ana, and Grandma Yayaba made their way out of the city.

Alibaba sat up front, steering the camels, while Ana and her grandmother sat inside with all of their supplies, both of them doing something odd with small strips of paper. When Alibaba had asked the old woman what they were doing, the old woman had smacked him on the head and told him not to be nosy. Her granddaughter had blushed and said they are protection charms that were often made before trips back in their village, and that it was always good to have some on hand. Seeing her blush with almost blatant discomfort, he didn't pry any further, though he did wonder to himself why they needed draw the same weird squiggles on every strip of paper.

As he looked out over the desert sand, Alibaba felt his stomach flutter somewhat. He grasped his metal vessel tightly with one hand. He was finally returning to Balbadd. The very thought made him shiver despite the heat. '_Will I be able to make this right? Was it even possible to try and ask for their forgiveness?'_

A blast of hot air pulled him out of his thoughts and back to reality. He shook his head slightly, almost as if he could rid himself of his memories. Squaring his shoulders, he stared straight ahead, concentrating hard on their destination.

With all his energy focusing on steering, Alibaba didn't notice the strips of paper that the woman had finished working on seemingly vanish beneath the old woman's cloak, nor the air around the two growing slightly heavier as they worked. He didn't notice Amon glowing slightly every few minutes or the eyes of the younger woman flashing green at one point, nor the features of the older one blurring for a moment.

And he definitely didn't notice the small black symbol that was swiftly and gently placed on his neck under the small red rope he wore by the woman who would soon change his life completely and drastically in more ways than he could even imagine.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been months since Alibaba had arrived in Balbadd and still no word from Aladdin. Not that he really minded these days though; he really wouldn't want Aladdin see him like this. He sighed and pulled his face scarf tighter, making sure the material definitely would not slip tonight. For tonight, they were robbing the house of the son of the prime minister. Tonight's hit was more than just a money and food grab, tonight was about sending a message; a message that stated that the poor could even topple the rich, that they have rights too.

Or that's at least what Kassim says.

"Come on, Brother! It's time to move!"

Alibaba rose from his seat, his scarf now securely in place and made his way over to Kassim. The rest of the Fog Troop was already assembled, ready to move out.

Kassim turned to the crowd. "Tonight, we move on the house of the prime minister's son, who at this moment is feasting while we starve out in the cold!" This brought a round of yelling and cheering. "Tonight, we will take back what he has stolen from us; our money, our food, our lives!" More cheering. Kassim continued. "But this is not just a normal raid." The crowd quieted. "This is our chance to show those rich bastards that no matter how much influence you have, or how much power, or how much money, the Fog Troop can still reach you! No matter how much they think themselves important and untouchable, we the Fog Troop will show all of them that there is no one that WE CANNOT BEAT!"

As the crowd stomped their feet and yelled in approval, Kassim and his two closest followers, Hassan and Zaynab, began to organize their forces and move out. Alibaba followed Kassim, forcing his mind to go blank, for all of his actions to flow out of his body with no need for conscious thought. He had no need for thinking, for feeling bad for these people. Balbadd is in a state of crisis, but all they cared about is living in luxury, not caring that others were dying of starvation and cold. Alibaba clenched his fists and continued walking under the pink mist created by Naynab; he couldn't let anything distract him.

The minutes flew by in a blur; making their way to the mansion, dissolving the walls, taking every single thing of value from the vault. Only bits and pieces were making their way into his thoughts.

'_How hungry they look.' _

_'__I am doing this for them.' _

_'__It's pathetic how he thinks a few hired soldiers can stop us.' _

_'__Let the bastard cry for his gold, we cry for our lives.' _

_'__Would Aladdin approve of me now?'_

That last thought he pushed out of his mind. There was no going back; he made a decision to help change Balbadd and Aladdin had nothing to do with it. This was his problem alone, and Aladdin doesn't know anything about him, or this kingdom.

Alibaba was still telling himself this as he made his way through the back alleys and streets, deciding to take a different way back to the base than everyone else. He instantly regretted this decision when a cane shot out of nowhere and made to trip him. He jumped back and drew his sword, ready to take out his attacker. However, instead of another attack, he was met with a raspy cackling sound as a figure stepped out of the shadows. Alibaba's eyes widened.

It had been months since he had last seen Ana and Grandma Yaya, and the old woman's sudden reappearance almost made him take a step back. She looked terrible. Gone were the beautiful clothes of vibrant colors, gone was the silver white hair that was always covered with a scarf. Gone was the mischievous glint in the woman's deep brown eyes and the face that seemed aged but timeless. Gone was the woman who seemed stronger than life.

In her place stood this old, frail, sickly woman, with leathery skin and bedraggled grey hair that was so greasy and matted that you could no longer tell that it had once been a pure glistening white. Her clothes were now dirty brown rags and she wore no shoes. She had an almost crazed look on her face and her eyes are now dull, a barely healed cut on her forehead. Her once plump and toned figure was now nothing more than bones, the skin pulled taunt. Her toothy grin remained plastered on her face, though now it seemed more maniacal than witty and sharp. The only thing that hadn't changed was the gnarled wood walking stick, though it no longer gleamed under her hands.

"Well, well, well, looky what I found; a mouse who thinks himself a cat." The old woman cackled, her voice slightly raspy as if her throat was full of nails. "I didn't think I'd see this little mousy again."

"Grandma Yaya, is that… really you." Alibaba removed his head scarf, staring at the old woman in disbelief, as if any second he would realized that he had the wrong person.

"Oh, it's me, little mousy. Grandma Yaya is always Grandma Yaya. What bring such a busy mouse to my alley?"

"Your… alley?" Alibaba looked around, taking in the small nest of garbage behind the woman and tattered cloth that hung over it. "You… live here…? But why-"

"Boy, you ask as many stupid question as you did the day I met you. If course I live here, can't you see that? You're too young to be losing your common sense. But to answer your stupid question, I live here because I don't have a house, or a cave, or a tent, and I certainly don't have the money to buy one, what with the damn food prices here getting higher and higher as the days go on."

"But you, and Ana, what-"

"Oh, so you want to know where Ana is; well, can't help you there boy, I haven't seen her in over a month."

"A month?" Alibaba was shocked now. In all of his time traveling with them, Alibaba had never once seen Ana and Grandma Yaya away from each other for longer than a day. They would never willingly separate.

The old woman nodded, hobbling back over to her garbage nest and taking a seat. She started leafing through it before coming up with a piece of extremely rotten fruit. Rolling it more gently than Alibaba could believe possible with her knobby fingers, she answered him, her eyes never leaving the fruit.

"Yes, a month; maybe longer, I really don't keep track any more. She got some big job at some fancy hotel and was told she needed to live in the houses with the other maids. No room for me, so I decided to make myself scarce. I came out here to make a living doing what I do best; begging. But dear me, the richies here sure are stingy; can't even spare a piece of bread for a feeble old woman. One young man did get in a few good kicks though before I scampered away. It was good to see that the young still have such healthy lungs here, what with all the yelling he did when he found out that I made off with his purse. Wasn't worth much though, only a single silver coin and a large stack of those perfectly useless Huang; I mean really, what use is paper money if you can't even use it to buy a loaf of bread?"

She turned the fruit over one last time before taking a large, squelching bite. Alibaba covered his mouth, his stomach churning from the site. Licking the rotten juice from her lips, Yayaba continued to eat the rotten fruit as if it was the most decadent thing she had ever had. With one last final bite, she licked her knobby fingers and stared back at Alibaba, who now looked almost horrified, and a little green.

"I'm telling you, using money that can't buy anything is the same as not having money at all." She continued, the rasp in her voice less prominent now. "You're a part of that Fog Troop thing, right? That group of unhappy bandits? Your one of the leaders, right?"

"What, how did-"

Yayaba rolled her eyes, "I'm old boy; I'm not blind yet. Nor am I stupid. The only reason that the army doesn't find you is because they think that your troop as intelligent as a bag of rocks. Are all the people from this country dumb, boy, or are they really that good at acting?" Cackling at her own joke, she got to her feet and made her way over to the blond teenager, who was still denying her claims.

"Grandma Yaya, I think you're a little confused. I mean, the Fog Troop is trying to change this country for the better. And I definitely wouldn't be allowed to join, I mean-"

Yayaba held up a hand, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"Boy, do you think I am stupid? I know what I know. But," she shrugged and made her way past him, hobbling towards the entrance to the alley, "I don't care what your little bandit group does. I really don't care. But let me tell you a few things."

She stopped at the entrance of the alley and looked over her shoulder at him. "Leading a rebellion in a country as broken as this will not end well, or at least not in the way you think. But as I said before, I really don't care. However, if your little group does anything to somehow harm Ana, I will make sure they all pay. I don't care what cause they say they are fighting for. Ana is the only think that I have left in this world that I hold dear. Don't let your demons become something that you, or anyone else, will later regret. I mean, you are destined for greatness."

And with that, she turned and hobbled into the growing mist.

"Wait, Grandma Yayaba! Come back! What do you mean by that?!" Alibaba took off into the mist after the woman. Something told him that she knew something important. Something in his gut made him wary of her. Racing out of the alley, he turned around, swinging his head back and forth trying to get a glimpse of the old woman. He heard her cackling laugh coming from all directions.

"Be careful boy, this world is about to change, and like it or not you are at its very center. Be careful though; often the greatest threats come from those closest to you!"

As her rasping voice faded away with the mist, Alibaba took one last look around. She was gone. And Alibaba was left standing there, a feeling of dread growing in the pit of his stomach and a strange nagging sensation that he should check up on Ana as soon as he got time.


	9. Chapter 9

Morgiana and Alibaba stared at the activity around them. There were so many people. Fishermen, shopkeepers, soldiers, and travelers from all over the world! As they took in every single thing taking place around them, Sin spoke up.

"Balbadd is one of the biggest and most central ports on this side of the world that deals with a variety of products, vendors, and consumers. Every day, goods are being moved through this city. Or that's at least how it should be."

"Ojisan?"

Sin looked across the canal, Morgiana and Aladdin following his gaze. On the wall across the canal, was a stone wall covered with red graffiti, which read 'Down with King,' 'Destroy the Monarchy,' and other such messages. Aladdin stared at the writing.

"Ojisan, is there something wrong with the king here?"

Sin looked down at him. "I guess you could say that. This country has been in turmoil since the death of their previous king. The previous king's eldest son ascended to the throne upon his death and the second son became deputy king. However, the country has been hit pretty hard with an economic depression and it'll be a hard struggle for them to get out of it." He looked down and saw Aladdin staring at him. "W-what is it?"

"Ojisan, you really know a lot about Balbadd, don't you?"

Sin laughed. "Well, Aladdin, that because I try to stay informed about the goings on in big important cities. If I didn't, I would have been cheated blind during trade negotiations."

Aladdin nodded in understanding as they made their way through what Sin proclaimed to be a shortcut to the hotel. In the back alleys, the dark side of the city could be seen. People huddles on both sides of the alleyways, the people dressed in rags if any clothes at all. As they made their way past these people, Sin walked closer to the two children, ready to strike if they were to be attacked. To his relief, no one tried to rob them.

As they came upon the hotel, Sin spread his arms wide. "But do not worry; you'll be perfectly safe here. It's where I always stay; the finest luxury hotel in the country! And to repay you for your kindness, allow me to take care of your bill! You two can stay here for as long as you desire."

Aladdin threw his arms up in the air. "Wow, thanks Ojisan! You're really rich, huh?"" he exclaimed as Morgiana bowed.

Sin laughed and made his way up the steps, brimming with such confidence that the two children were astounded when the hotel guards stopped him in his tracks.

"Hold it right there!" One of them yelled, blocking the way into the hotel. "Shady Bastard!"

Sin seemed mildly confused. "Really? What's so shady about me?"

"Come on!"

"Everything!"

"It's so obvious!"

"What part of me are you referring to?"

As more and more guards ran to stop the barely dressed Sin from entering the hotel, more and more of the guests stopped what they were doing to watch.

"Enough." The guards halted as a white haired man in green and white robes walked towards them.

Aladdin and Morgiana watched as the man came up to Sin, a look of what seemed to be annoyance and resignation on his face.

"Yo!" Sin laughed, raising a hand to the man. "I seemed to have gotten into a little trouble." The man just shook his head in disapproval.

"Honestly, what do you expect, showing up here dressed like that, what happened to you belongings?"

"I fell asleep on the side of the road and was robbed. These two helped me out by lending me some clothes and food. I told them that they could stay here in return for their kindness; the bill's on me."

The white haired man sighed again and looked to the guards. "Its fine, this man and the two children down there are with us." Nodding, the guards let Sin pass, though they kept a skeptical eye on him. Aladdin and Morgiana followed Sin and the white haired man farther into the hotel. They stopped and greeted a very tall man with dark red hair and eyes who was wearing white robes and gold armor, as well as no shoes.

The white haired man turned back to them. "It seems our master has caused you an inconvenience. Like he said, you can leave the bill to us."

"Wow, thanks Mister Subordinate!" Aladdin exclaimed as Morgiana bowed again.

"Think nothing of it." He turned to Sin. "Now then, let's see if we can't do something about those unseemly clothes."

As he was being pushed away, Sin looked back over his shoulder. "I'll see you later, Aladdin and Morgiana. Let us have dinner together." And with a laugh, Sin was dragged away by the white-haired subordinate, while the silent redhead trailed after them.

Aladdin smiled up at Morgiana. "He seemed really nice, right Mor-san?"

"Hm" Morgiana nodded.

"Um, excuse me." The two children turned as a maid with brown hair made her way over to them. She dropped into a low curtsy and continued in a soft voice. "I have your room prepared for you, if you would please follow me?" She rose and made her way over to a grand staircase made of a polished white stone and began to climb.

Aladdin and Morgiana followed the maid up dozens of flights of stairs until they reached a very grand hallway. Leading them down the hall, she began to point out various things.

"Over there are the stairs that lead directly to the baths. If you cannot remember where each set of stairs leads to, just check the little plaque to the right. The baths have a steam symbol on it. Dinner can be served either in your room, in the outdoor dining area, or in the dining room on the main floor. This here is your room." She stopped in front of an ornate door close to the end of the hall. Opening it, she stood aside to allow them in. She grinned slightly when her two charges gasped and smiled.

The room was one of the smaller luxury rooms, but for these two children it probably seemed very big and very grand. Two beds sat in the middle of the room, complete with dozens of pillows and tassels. The rug was large and soft and a large window on the left side of the room allowed a spectacular view of Balbadd.

She curtsied again as Aladdin sat on one of the beds. "As I have been informed, room is being covered by another guest and you are to stay as long as you would like. If there is anything that you may need or any questions you may have, please do not hesitate to call me. Hanging next to your beds should be a rope; please pull on it if you ever need anything. My name is Ana and I am here to make sure that your stay in Balbadd is comfortable."

She rose from her curtsy and made to close the door when Aladdin's voice stopped her. "Miss, do you know if there are any ships sailing for the Dark Continent?"

The maid, Ana, looked confused for a moment before she answered. "Dark Continent? Oh, you must mean the ships heading south. Unfortunately, sailing there right now is impossible." At the look on the boy's face, she continued. "This country is currently in the middle of a crisis. Taxes are rising and trade has almost ground to a halt. And to make matters worse, the Fog Troop has been appearing more and more often."

"Fog Troop?"

"Yes. You see, this city is often covered by a dense fog that appears almost every night. A group of thieves called the Fog Troop have been using the cover of fog to break into the homes of the wealthy and steal from them. Ever since the new leader took power, their thefts have gotten more and more frequent. The soldiers never see them coming and have been almost completely powerless to stop the troop from gaining more power and support."

Morgiana looked at the maid, her gaze steady. "New leader?"

"Yes ma'am. They call him Alibaba the Wonder. Apparently he wields fearsome magic that even the king is unable to stop. Also-" the maid, Ana, abruptly stopped talking and looked back the way they had come. Footfalls and voices were getting louder as a few other guests made their way back to their rooms. Ana waited until they had disappeared inside of their rooms before turning back to her two charges.

"Excuse me, but I must be going now. I'm really not supposed to be talking about this. The boss will have my head if he sees me gossiping. Now if you need anything, please don't hesitate to call for me. The group paying for your room asks that you both meet them for dinner in a few hours. I have been instructed to come and fetch you when the time arises." Giving them one last curtsy, she backed out of the room and silently shut the heavy door.

"She seems really nice, huh, Mor-san. And so does Sin-ojisan!" Aladdin flopped down on the bed and sighed, his eyes shining slightly as he thought of dinner later. "I wonder what kind of tasty food they have here!?"

Morgiana nodded in agreement, her mind also filled with images of tasty food.


	10. Chapter 10

Sakura made her way quickly down the hallway, her mind working a million miles a minute. Something told her that that little boy, Aladdin, was more than just an important child; she could literally sense this land's strange chakra swirling around him. Hell, it was almost visible, which meant that he was either very powerful, or something in or on his body was overflowing with chakra.

_'__Magoi.'_ Sakura corrected herself. _'They use magoi here.'_

During her time here in this weird land, Sakura had come to learn that magoi and chakra were similar with some subtle, and even some blatant, differences. Magoi doesn't flow the same as chakra; it moves in almost random patterns, though it seems to follow some kind of concentration gradient, flowing in certain directions in certain areas. These 'currents' of magoi become more sporadic and chaotic and would flow in more directions when in heavily populated or inhabited areas. All magoi, however, would eventually flow up and out of those areas and redistribute itself in the atmosphere, and maybe even flow to other worlds or dimensions.

But, around that boy, the magoi, the rukh around him, it was like he was a magnet. The rukh gravitated around him and supplied him and that magoi infused flute around his neck with even more magoi. It had taken a lot of effort to maintain her cover around him; her chakra wanted to go to him as well.

Sakura rounded the corner and entered her room, shutting the door and locking it behind her. Taking deep breaths, she allowed her henge to drop as she gathered her thoughts. If her henge was going to melt every time that she was around that boy, she would need to find another way to secure it to her other than by just raw chakra control. Grabbing a cheap metal necklace off of her dresser, she poured almost all of her chakra into it, weaving the chakra directly into the metal itself. The pattern of the chakra paths should force the metal's chakra to conceal the identity of the wearer, but she would still have to be careful.

After fifteen minutes of hard work, Sakura sighed and set down the necklace. It should work now and it should be powerful enough to last a few weeks at a time before it needs to be recharged. She rubbed she temples as she felt a headache coming on. All of this constant fine chakra use has made her stamina increase and her chakra supply deepen, but it was exhausting. Maintaining a henge and a shadow clone daily was starting to take its toll.

_'__And on top of that, I haven't been able to train properly in months. I'm starting to feel useless. What will everyone will say when I return home and I have regressed. I'll be a complete liability if I ever make it home.'_ Sakura shook her head slightly, banishing her depressing thoughts. She couldn't think about that right now.

"You're thinking too much again." Her clone appeared in the room. "You'll get thought wrinkles."

Sakura eyed her clone coolly. "I really wish you would stop sneaking in through my window, someone could see you." She wrinkled her nose. "And you smell like you slept in something that died."

"I came through the window because that is the easiest way for me to get in and no one saw me, so don't worry. And I smell like this because I did sleep in something that died. I think it was a dead cat or a very large possum. I'd say dead only a few days."

Sakura shook her head, looking a little green. "I get the picture, but why?"

"All the clean places are taken up by families. Besides, I'm a clone, I really don't care one way or another."

Sakura sighed and walked over to her dresser. "Clone or not, you still have to maintain your strength or you will require too much chakra to function. I can't give you any more than I do now." Pulling out a loaf of bread, she tossed it to Yayaba. Yayaba caught it one handed and tore into it with her teeth, devouring it in seconds. Sakura settled herself against the wall and watch her clone decimate the bread.

"So what news do you have?"

Yayaba licked her dirt-blackened fingers before she answered. "Things in this country are going from bad to worse. The economy is being driven farther and farther into the ground and if it continues this way, this country will fall apart and soon cease to exist. The taxes are taking a toll on the citizens and more and more are fleeing every day, but not many make it far before they are gathered up by slave traders and sold off. The higher taxes are making it harder for people to live and deaths have risen substantially from starvation alone. The wealthy don't really feel the shifts in the economy and they don't seem to care for the lower classes."

"And the king? And what of the Fog Troop?"

"The king just seems to be sitting all day, every day, on his fat ass, spending money as fast as we breathe air. He doesn't seem to realize that the more money they borrow from Ko, the more indebted Balbadd becomes. And it gets worse. The Ko Empire is set to take Balbadd in about a week. King Ahbmad is to wed a Princess of the Ko Empire, and with that union, Balbadd will become a vassal state of Ko."

"That's not good. Balbadd is doomed if this continues."

Yayaba snorted. "That's not even the worst part. King Ahbmad is planning to sell the citizen's rights as collateral so as to continue to borrow Huang. If nothing changes, this country will become a major slave exporting country. His advisers are going along with his plans without even an ounce of complaint."

Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. "Laws will probably be implemented forcing every woman to bare children starting at the earliest age possible to increase human population and the number of exported goods. And what about the deputy king, Sahbmad?"

"Seems to be too scared to speak up, but he is discretely leaking government and military secrets and plans to the Fog Troop. And the Fog Troop is upping their thefts, but the main leader, Kassim, seems to be filtering the information leaked and preparing for a witch hunt. The Fog Troop has a deep vendetta against the monarchy here and is out for blood but other than revenge, they seem to have no plans for the country afterwards except for idealistic, unrealistic plans that would never work."

"If they overthrow the monarchy and install themselves as new rulers, they will run this country into the ground faster than the king did." Sakura mused. "They have absolute no grasp of politics and their deep set hate of anyone who has riches or power will make it impossible to establish any kind of negotiations or treaties. They will only last long enough for the Ko Empire or some other major power to swallow up this kingdom anyway."

"So you're staying that this country is doomed?"

Sakura nodded. "Every scenario that I run through my head seems to end that way yes. Unless Balbadd obtains a new leader with the resources, power, and means to quickly maneuver out of all this political crap that Balbadd's in now, I don't know of anyone here who could make this country as good as it was when the last king reigned."

Yayaba began to crack her old knuckles absentmindedly. "Yeah, me either. The lower class citizens are all for the Fog Troop." She cackled. "And that boy Alibaba is making them all hot and bothered."

Sakura perked up at this. She had not seen that Alibaba boy since about a month after she had arrived in Balbadd. "And?"

Her clone rolled her eyes. "Lost. Completely and totally lost. He thinks that he is doing something good, that what he is doing is making a difference, but he doesn't realize that it's not doing anything but making matters worse. He is so caught up in his past as a disgraced prince that he can't really see that what he is doing this pointless and more damaging to the country." She popped her knuckles one last time and made her way back over to the window. "I'll stop by again in a few days. Anything else you want me to fish around for?"

"…Yeah, actually; keep tabs on the people from Sindria, King Sinbad and his generals Masrur and Ja'far, as well as the two children who just came in, Aladdin and Morgiana. I can keep an eye on them while they are in the hotel, but if they make contact with the Fog Troop or any other suspicious movements, make sure you know everything."

"And the Sindrian meeting at the palace with the king right now?" Yayaba's eyes twinkled with mischief.

Sakura glared. "Genjutsu on a guard who thinks I'm his girlfriend. Why ask questions when you already know the answers?" Yayaba just cackled in response. "And why are you still here? You have a senile old woman to play and I have children to spy on."

Her clone grinned. "I think that pretending to be a weak, girly pacifist is making you cranky."

Sakura pointed to the window. "OUT!" Her clone winked and jumped out the window, quickly scaling the rooftops and dropping down into an alley in the distance. Sakura watched her go.

_'__I'm going crazy if even my clone is mocking me.' _Shaking her head, she grabbed the necklace and fastened it around her neck, feeling her features shift back into Ana's. Falling back into the mindset of Ana, she left her room and headed back up the stairs, making her way back to the room where she placed Aladdin and Morgiana. She grabbed a full basket of sheets from another maid when she spotted the Sindrian party returning to their rooms.

She braced herself and hurried forward, acting as if she was frantic and overworked. Holding the basket of sheets high enough to seemingly obscure her vision, she hurried forward and ran into Masrur, stumbling backwards. She landed on her but and groaned.

"Owwww…"

"Are you alright, miss?" Sakura looked up and saw the purple-haired king kneeling before her. Sakura forced herself to blush.

"Oh… oh… oh, I'm fine sir. I'm so sorry, so so sorry. Oh..oh…" Sakura answered distractedly, her breathing short and breathy. She maintained her blush as she gathered up her basket of sheets. "I'm so sorry, sirs, I should have been watching where I was going. I'm such a klutz, and the madam is going to yell at me now." Her eyes began to fill with tears and she wiped them away frantically. "Please forgive me sirs, please don't tell the madam, I need this job, and… and…" She dissolved into tears.

Sinbad patted her shoulder and gave her his dazzling smile. "Don't worry miss, there is no harm done. We were more worried if you were hurt." Sakura sniffed loudly. Taking her hands, Sinbad pulled her to her feet, and Masrur handed her the basket of sheets. She took it gratefully from him.

"Now miss, no more tears, you are too pretty to cry." Sakura forced herself to blush from his cheesy line, though inwardly she was rolling her eyes. Sinbad took a good look at her. "Aren't you the young lady assigned to our rooms?"

Sakura shook her head. "No sir, I am assigned to the two children that you arrived with."

Sinbad smiled a gentleman's smile. "Well than fate must be with us today because we were just looking for you. We are about to have dinner and would like Aladdin and Morgiana to join us. Do you think you could fetch them and bring them the table reserved for us that overlooks the canal, Miss…?"

Sakura fluttered. "Ana, sir, and of course, sir, of course! Excuse me then, and thank you sirs." Giving them a small bow, she hurried away, grinning to herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ja'far watching her intently.

_'__I guess he doesn't fully believe me yet. I'd better be extra careful around him; he has the senses of a shinobi, though they down seem to be as sharp as those back home. It's going to be more difficult to convince him; the way he moves; it's almost like shinobi training. He must have received some kind of training in covert operations.'_ She deposited the sheets in the laundry room and made her way towards her charges' room. _'__That man Masrur seems silent but alert, though he doesn't seem to be suspicious of me. He has good senses but not really geared towards magoi. King Sinbad seems to be a flirt, so no matter how sharp he is, he should lower his guard around a helpless woman. But he also moves with natural talent as well as trained reflexes that practically scream of power. All three are dangerous enemies and even better allies.'_ She stopped in front of Aladdin and Morgiana's door and knocked. _'__They might just be my ticket back home.'_ She grinned inwardly as she opened the door. _'__Let the games begin.'_

"Excuse me, ma'am, sir, your benefactor has asked that I come and fetch you for dinner. If you would please follow me, I will escort you downstairs."


	11. Chapter 11

Sakura watched from a distance as Aladdin, Morgiana, Sinbad, and his subordinates ate dinner together. She could see that Sinbad was doing introductions and looked completely carefree, but she felt that something wasn't right. As she watched the group interact, she let a part of her mind wander. As far as she could tell, these people would be her best bet in finding a way home, but by watching them, she could tell that they had their own powers and their own secrets, especially that Sinbad. She sighed and focused her full attention back on the group. Sakura's eyes narrowed slightly.

Those mysterious blue arms were back, seeming to grow right out of the short boy's flute. Sinbad looked genuinely shocked at the sight, as did Ja'far. Sakura strained to hear their conversation, channeling a small amount of chakra into her ears to give herself a boost.

"Aladdin, so you're a magi?"

_'__What the hell is a magi?' _Sakura thought. Apparently Aladdin was just as confused as she was, voicing her exact thoughts. Sakura listened closely to Sinbad's explanation, filing all of the data away in her mind. _'So a magi is a very powerful magician, and there are only a select few in the world. This could turn out better than I thought.'_ She eavesdropped a little longer until talked turned to that of the Fog Troop. She grinned slightly and walked away; nothing that they mentioned would be of any use to her. If they planned to confront the Fog Troop, they would run in Yayaba.

_'__Looks like tonight is the night I'll get to do a little snooping.'_ Sakura thought, stretching her arms over her head until her joints popped slightly. _'I think it's time to discover exactly what is in that treaty that fat king has with the Ko Empire. Yaya can take care of the manipulations tonight.'_ Sakura grinned to herself. It had been a while since she had last let loose; she couldn't wait. 

_That night_

Sakura moved swiftly along the building tops, being careful to keep to the shadows and avoiding areas that were heavily populated. The last thing she needed was to be spotted by some half-drunk idiot who just happened to be gazing up at the sky tonight. She tightened the white head scarf around her head as she leapt off a particularly tall roof, the pull of gravity sending a wave of nostalgia through her. It had definitely been too long since she had done this; she had forgotten what this freedom felt like.

'_I forgot how good the breeze felt when on missions. I need to do this more often.'_ She raced up the side of the wall of a large building and landed silently on the roof, in the shadow of the next building over. She looked at her target in front of her; the royal palace of Balbadd. Only a hop, skip, and a jump over a poorly guarded wall and she would be in the palace. Sakura cracked her neck quick and went over the layout of the palace in her head. The room she was looking for was on the northeastern end of the palace, an underground room only accessible through the throne room. If her guard 'boyfriend' was correct, there were more soldiers guarding that room than most of the rest of the palace.

Sakura sighed and tucked her cloak and headscarf tighter around her. White was never an ideal color to wear for an infiltration, but she would make due. She knew that she was rusty and damned if she was going to be careless. Now if someone was lucky enough to spot her, all they would see was a white clad figure. Their first thought would be the Fog Troop and the lower class citizens. If people saw her, they would think that she was a member of the troop, thinking that the poor citizens would be too dumb to break in. It would not draw attention to herself as Ana the maid, but shift attention to the Fog Troop bandits.

Sakura grimaced inwardly. She hated to use the peasants and Fog Troop as a scapegoat, but better to bring more attention to the widely known thieves group than to her. Besides, she wasn't planning on getting caught.

Sakura pulled out a couple of senbon laced with a potent sleeping toxin before readying herself to scale the wall and begin her infiltration. All she needed was of one shot to make the guards fall into a deep sleep filled with vivid and outlandish dreams.

As she jumped, Sakura wondered if her clone was faring any better. 

Sinbad sneezed and rubbed his arms. "It gets so chilly at night."

"Yes it does." Masrur said, walking away from his king.

"Idiot! Stand still!" Sinbad yelled when the Fanalis moved away from him. He stood behind Masrur, trying to shield himself from the cold.

"Please don't use me as a windshield!"

"Come on, help me out and stop moving!"

"HEY, YOU TWO DOWN THERE!" Both men looked up to see the owner of the house glaring at them out one of his windows. "I can't believe the army is so shorthanded that they could only send you guys. Do your jobs properly and protect my house! I'm so nervous that I can't even eat!"

Masrur eyed the chicken leg in the man's hand. "And yet he's still eating."

Sinbad nodded. "He's definitely privileged." Then he heard the footsteps.

Sinbad swung around, bracing himself for a fight as his gaze focused on the ever growing fog. Beside him he felt Masrur do the same. He tensed as the footsteps came closer; his body was poised to attack or defend…

…when a thin woman holding a small bundle stumbled into sight. She looked as if she was ready to keel over then and there.

Sinbad rushed to her side, Masrur right behind him. "Hey are you alright?"

The woman didn't answer but made a quick lung at him, knife in hand. Sinbad dodged her attack and stared at her. "What the hell!?"

As the woman stumbled past him, more and more figures appeared out of the growing fog. But they didn't appear to be the Fog Troop. They were all to thin looking, their eyes too gaunt, their steps too uneven, their eyes too dead. The woman who attacked Sinbad slowly stood up straight.

"I have no milk to give him." She raised her knife higher. Sinbad's eyes fell on the bundle she held close to her breast. A small, emaciated arm hung limp from it. "I need food, no matter what! If you try to stop me, I-I'll kill you!"

Sinbad's eyes widened as horror washed over him. He could tell that child was only a day from death at the most unless his mother could feed him. His eyes darted to the rest of the crowd. Each person held the same crazed looks of desperation.

"Mongrels from the slums, huh?" The aristocrat had returned to his window to see what the commotion was about. "Here, take this and get out of my sight!" He threw his half eaten chicken leg at them. It landed no too far from the woman with the baby. She started and dropped her knife, racing over to the chicken. She dropped to her knees and reached for the food; her hand froze inches from it.

Another hand grabbed her own and she looked to the side. Sinbad pulled her hand gently away from the food and wrapped his other arm around her shoulders.

"There's no need to do that." She stared at him, incredulous. Sinbad continued. "The wealth of the noblemen comes from your taxes. If you don't find it worth paying," his tone hardened slightly, "then just take back as much as you want!" The starving citizens stared at him, awed. "But don't take any lives." Their faces hardened and they nodded. They scurried away, heading towards the unlocked estate gates.

Sinbad watched them go. "You sure about this?" He looked at Masrur, turning to face him. "All we promised was to capture the Fog Troop." Sinbad sighed sadly and gazed up at the moon. "This country may already be a lost cause…"

"Oh, sonny boy, you don't know how right you are." Sinbad and Masrur whirled around as an old woman hobbled out of the fog behind them, cackling loudly. They stared at her, almost at a loss for words. They hadn't even heard her coming.

If the people they had just met had looked bad, she looked several times worse. She was deplorably thin, every bone in her body showing through her skin, which was stretched unnaturally tight, giving her the look of a walking skeleton. Her hair was wrapped in a greasy, dirt covered rag, and a few greasy strands hung on either side of her face. Her clothes too were rags, even worse quality than the starving people who were currently looting the aristocrat's home, and she wore no shoes, her feet wrapped in cloth scraps. Around her neck was a choker, and in her ears were earrings, each so caked with dust and mud and grime that it was impossible to determine what they were made of. She leaned heavily on a gnarled wood cane that looked to once be good quality but has since seen hard times, and she had a crazed look in her dark eyes. She grinned toothily at them, showing a mouth that was missing a few teeth.

"You boys keep staring at me like that, I'm gonna blush." She cackled at they started slightly.

Sinbad shook off his shock and took a step forward, smiling a charming smile. "And who are you, grandmother?"

The woman grinned at him. "You must be new to town. Everyone who's taken to the backstreets in the last six months knows who I am. So why are you here? What do you want with this trash heap they call a kingdom?"

Sinbad stared at her. Not only was she mocking him, but she had completely avoided his question. He shook off his shock and tried again, smiling once again in his charming manner. "May I have the honor of knowing who I speak to, miss?"

She laughed again, sounding like she had been gargling rusty nails. "You first. And no one has called me miss in many years. I like you!" She cackled.

Sinbad opened his mouth to respond when he heard someone running towards them. Looking over the woman's shoulder, he saw the woman with the baby as well as three gaunt looking men. Each had a bag of food strapped to their backs. "Grandma Yaya, we have brought you some food. There is plenty-"

The old woman, Grandma Yaya, turned to them and tapped her cane on the ground. They fell silent immediately. "You children have ruined my fun. I was having a good time talking with these boys." She grinned again. "And don't worry about me, keep that food for yourself."

The woman opened her mouth to protest. "But Grandma, you haven't eaten in days, and the last time you ate something that wasn't completely rotted was over a month ago! Please eat something!"

Grandma Yaya sighed and shook her head. "Unlike you, I don't have children to feed. I am perfectly capable of getting my own food. Now hurry home and hide it; we don't want noisy, fat guards taking it from you again." Seeing the concerned looks on their faces she added, "I'll get something to eat later, I promise. Now you boys," She looked at the three men behind the young mother, "make sure she and her babe get home safe and sound. I will see you all later; I think I'll stay out a little longer." Her tone left no room for argument. The four nodded reluctantly and sprinted off into the fog.

Grandma Yaya shook her head slightly in amusement and turned back to Masrur and Sinbad, who were watching her in interest. "You'd think that if I wasn't around their lives would end. Rotten kids, they spoiled my fun."

"Is it true you haven't eaten in days?"

Yaya looked at Masrur. "I was almost convinced that you couldn't talk. And of course not, I had a loaf of bread from the hotel just this morning. Good food is wasted on the rich. Besides, I'm old. I might not wake up tomorrow; those kids shouldn't waste their food on me. Their kids need it more than I do."

Sinbad smiled a genuine smile at her. "You really are a kind person."

Yaya glared at him. "What gave you that idea? I'm not nice; you need your eyes checked. I'm not helpless and I can get my own food. It's rude to assume a lady is helpless just because life is hard. Life's hard for everyone; people need to stop whining and get used to it." She huffed and began to hobble away. "I'd best be on my way; the guards here don't like me too much." She looked over her shoulder and cackled again before disappearing into the now dense fog. "It was…interesting… meeting you, King Sinbad, General Masrur. I know we'll meet again in the future. Don't get too full of yourself before them." Her laugh echoed once more through the foggy night before it disappeared altogether.

Sinbad and Masrur stared at the place where the old woman disappeared before they realized the same thing. '_We never told her our names.'_


	12. Chapter 12

Sakura leapt from building to building, copies of the documents tucked safely in her dress. Getting into the room had been much easier than she had expected; the guards weren't all that alert. The room wasn't even that well hidden, at least not compared to the traps and hidden rooms back home. The king and his advisers were even kind enough to label the documents clearly and file them in an organized manner. They apparently thought that no one would be able to access the room without their permission because there were no traps inside the room at all.

_'__Sloppy, very sloppy.'_ It took her absolutely no time at all to copy the documents and get out of there. Now all she had to do was go back to the hotel and look them over. '_So easy, even Naruto could do it… well, maybe not; he was never good studying.'_ Grinning, she continued her way back towards the hotel when something caught her eye; a large blue headless giant had appeared off to her left.

_'__That's Aladdin's djinn… Ugo… I think he called him. Why summon him here?'_ Intrigued, Sakura leapt towards the blue giant and came to a halt on a nearby roof when she saw the commotion below. She had to admit, it definitely wasn't what she expected.

Ja'far and Morgiana were pinned to the ground with a dense black fog. '_They must have tried to go against Kassim and were too slow to dodge his sword. They'll be stuck there for a while unless they can figure out that they need to disrupt that sword's energy output.'_ Sakura thought as her eyes skimmed over the rest of the crowd. Aladdin was standing on top of Ugo, arms spread wide and blocking the troop's access to the nobleman's house. Apparently a headless blue giant freaks people out around here.

'_Well, most people would be freaked out, even some back home.' _Sakura's eyes continued to scan the crowd before they landed on the hooded figure approaching the young magi. His height, his gait, the heaviness of his footfalls, the body shape and type, it all screamed…

_'__Alibaba; I was wondering when they would meet again.'_ She watched as he pulled off his headscarf, thoroughly shocking the blue haired boy and causing him to recall Ugo back into his flute. She couldn't hear what they were saying but whatever Alibaba said to him caused Aladdin to freeze up and stare almost lifelessly ahead.

'_Alibaba must have stunned the poor kid; he looks like Naruto did when Sasuke told him he was leaving the village, or the look in Naruto's face when Gaara died, or the look on Naruto's face when Jiraiya died or… now that I think about it, Naruto looked like that a lot. Now I feel bad." _Sakura shook her head slightly and crept back from the roof edge, careful to keep out of sight. Dissolving into the dense fog, Sakura made her way back to the hotel, not stopping until she was safely back in her rooms and her room's genjutsu was activated again. Pulling off her headscarf, she plopped down on her bed, somehow exhausted.

'_I'm getting soft; time was that I could run for days without sleep, work for days without stop at the hospital…'_ She sighed, '_This cover is making me weak. I'm going to have to find a way to keep in shape, maybe find a place to go for a run or something.'_ Sakura turned over on her back and stared at the ceiling, allowing her overworked mind to wander for the first time in months. Memories that she had been suppressing rose to the surface, the faces of her teammates, her teachers, her coworkers; an image of her friends caused her to tear up slightly and another memory of her family caused a tear to fall before she forced her mind to places she once knew. Kohona, Suna, the Land of Waves, of Iron, of Snow, of Spring, the deserts, the lakes, rivers, oceans, plains, mountains, valleys, islands, she forced herself to remember it all. She burned those images into her mind.

_'__Just in case I never make it home… or if it takes years and years; I never will forget it.'_ Sakura breathed deeply and sat up. Pulling out the documents, she got to work, scanning each and every line carefully; if she was deciphering them correctly, then thing did not look well for Balbadd at all. Whoever wrote this document knew exactly how to loophole and strong arm and sweet talk and manipulate their way into the best deal possible for themselves and eventually effectively screwing over and burying business partners when necessary.

'_Koumei,'_ Sakura read the document a little more carefully. _'A man named Ren Koumei wrote this and it was witnessed and signed by the emperor of the Ko Empire Ren Koutoku, a man named Ren Kouen, King Ahbmad of Balbadd and Balbadd's greedy Minister of Commerce and Trade. Apparently Deputy King Sahbmad couldn't be trusted to sign these.'_ Sakura's eyes strayed back towards the names of the Ko Empire. _'Ren Koumei, Ren Kouen, and Ren Koutoku, they must be related; Ren must be a royal name, and each given name begins with Ko. Ko-uen, Ko-umei, Ko-utoku, Ko Empire; either they have absolutely no creativity or it's just a coincidence.'_

The sound of a ringing bell snapped her out of her thoughts. Looking over to her wall, the bell for her third VIP room was ringing. Sighing, Sakura hid the documents and her peasant disguise, quickly throwing on her maid's outfit. Checking her appearance in the mirror and plastering a sweet and serene smile on her face, 'Ana' left her rooms, hurrying up the service stairs to the VIP floors of the hotel.

It was twenty minutes and one rich merchant with wandering hands later that Sakura left the VIP room and was on her way back to her room when she saw Sinbad, Masrur, and Ja'far outside of Aladdin and Morgiana's room. Masrur looked almost like a palace guard with his back erect and hands clasped behind his back while Ja'far and Sinbad were kneeling on the floor, their ears pressed to glasses that were pressed to the wall.

Sakura couldn't help it; she giggled. Sinbad and Ja'far started, though Masrur stayed as calm and statue-like as he was moments ago, not that Sakura expected any different. She clapped her hands over her mouth trying to, unsuccessfully, to stop her giggles. She wasn't acting; she actually found this funny, especially their mixed expressions of surprise and guilt. She continued to giggle softly as she watched Sinbad try and pull himself together, obviously flustered. His attempts brought on a new fit of giggles.

"Sirs, is the entertainment at the hotel not interesting to the point that you have to eavesdrop on two young children?" She giggled again. "If the head maid caught three men such as you eavesdropping, she'd be very mad." She let out another wave of giggles which she tried without success to swallow.

Sinbad looked sheepish, while Ja'far just looked annoyed. "My dear girl-"

"Ana, sir, my name is Ana."

"Ana; if you could please keep this a secret? As a, uh, personal favor?"

Sakura's giggles died down as she nodded shyly. "Of course sir. I was just warning you, because the head maid is quite fond of lectures that last several hours. I don't think you'd really like that."

Sinbad smiled. "You are too k-" He was cut off as a loud explosion was heard. It had come from inside the room.

"What the-" Another explosion shook the hall, and Sinbad and Ja'far both stumbled slightly from the tremors. Masrur caught the maid as she pitched forward with a little scream, stopping her from kissing the ground. He set her back on her feet, which was difficult because she was shaking so much that her legs were wobbly. She grabbed the Fanalis' arm in a tight grasp, too scared to let go.

"What was that?!" Sakura squeaked, her voice becoming higher with each word. "What just happened?!" Her eyes darted from door to door, her face becoming more and more terrified with each door she looked at. "The guests! I have to make sure they are okay! I have to get to the guests!" She released Masrur and tried to hurry away on her unsteady legs before she found herself being swept off her feet.

Sakura refrained from elbowing the tall man in the stomach. Masrur had moved extremely quickly, more that she would have thought possible of the people here. Sinbad appeared at her side, clasping her trembling hand in both of his own. "Please leave this to us, Miss Ana, and hide yourself. It would not do if you were to get injured."

Sakura shook her head frantically, and struggled and squirmed until she was placed back on her feet. "NO! I am responsible for them while they are here! I have to check on them myself! I would never forgive myself if they got hurt because I was hiding!" And with that she hurried down the hall and disappeared down the stairs.

Sinbad watched her go, somewhat shocked. He had seen the fear in her eyes, seen her trembling in fear, had seen her unsteady steps, and still she put others before herself, even when she was terrified. She intrigued him and he felt his thoughts follow her…

…Until a loud scream snapped him back to reality. "Ja'far, Masrur!" The three sprinted down the steps that Ana had just disappeared down, making their way towards the screaming and shouting. They burst into the lounge and saw what they suspected was the Fog Troop attacking the hotel guests.

'_So they finally made a move.'_ Sinbad thought watching the scene stonily. He sighed inwardly; they just had to pick tonight. He really wanted to learn more about that maid. Looking around, he saw her out of the corner of his eye. She was herding guests down one of the serving stairways and out of danger. He could see that she was still trembling in fear, though she was hiding it well. Sinbad released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and jerked his gaze away from her, focusing on the group of Fog Troop members that appeared in front of him.

If he had continued to watch the small woman, he might have realized by the faint, quick smiles that kept ghosting over her face that the woman was not scared at all. He might have realized that she was, in fact, trembling not from fear, but from pure excitement.


End file.
